I arrived at a familiar cafe and discovered that everyone was already present. It seemed they held off on discussing the plans without me and instead conversed about other things.

“There he is!” Jameson waved me over.

Although he seemed a bit cold toward me when we first met, I guessed he had warmed up to me. Then again, I’m sure that he, like most Gifted, had to deal with hordes of people wishing to benefit off of them.

I was lucky that not many people knew me and those that did probably wouldn’t recognize my current face.

“Timely as ever, Casper.”

“Am I late?”

“Yes, so the food’s on you again,” Emma replied with a smile.

“No, we only got here around ten minutes ago,” Jameson said in response.

“Good, I don’t think I can really afford to pay for lunch,” I said half-jokingly.

“Don’t tell me you gambled it all away? If you did, you should’ve taken me with you.” Grant spoke up.

“No, I bought a Synthesized Combat Suit.”

“Oh, that’s a wise purchase,” Sophia remarked.

“How’d you get enough to buy that already? Just how many ruins have you cleared in your spare time?” Emma inquired out of curiosity.

“I think around ten in total, but most of the money came from my savings.”

“Wow, you’re really all in, huh?” Jameson seemed surprised.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just that being a Gifted isn’t a profession with a lot of assurances. Unless you have a contract with a guild, one big injury would costs you thousands in medical bills and even then you aren’t guaranteed to be healthy enough to go back in. Do you have a fall back plan in case of injury?”

“...No.”

Now that I thought about it, I had two really great abilities. Bone Mending could heal fractures and breaks within a few days while Flesh Mending could stop bleeding within a few seconds and heal cuts and lacerations within hours. I could save money on potions, pills, and whatever else was used to heal.

“Alright, that’s enough, he clearly doesn’t want to think about things like that.” Sophia rescued me from the conversation.

“You’re right, my bad.” Jameson smiled as he placed a folder on the table, “Let’s discuss the layout of the ruin.”

…

After a few hours and a short meal, we finished studying the map of the ruin. Jameson stressed that Orges were less intelligent than Lizardmen but far stronger. They were easily angered and would switch targets to whoever caused them the most pain. It meant that we needed to kill them as quickly as possible and protect Sophia at all costs.

I ingrained the strategy into my mind as I stepped out into the street. I watched as the others left in their own cars before I headed off toward an alley. Since there was no limit on my return home, I had enough time to practice my Crow-Shift. I had to be careful not to be discovered as the use of gifts in a public area was punishable with a fine or a jail sentence. It really depended on the nature of the ability used, to be honest. Turning into a flock of crows was less dangerous than say, shooting fire or lightning around.

Once I made sure there was no one around me, a cloud of feathers burst into the air and I took flight as a flock. Although I felt as if I was one entity, my vision was that of twelve and there was nothing that could escape my notice. 360 degrees of vision that, when combined with 24 different eyes, became far too much for my mind to process.

To my surprise, once I focused on just a few eyes, the overpowering visual range of my eyes was drastically reduced.

‘You learn something new every day!’ I thought to myself as I flew forward.

Before exhaustion could set in, I dove toward a rooftop and turned back into a human without losing my speed. I leaped across a gap and onto another roof before and repeated a few times before I changed back and glided through the air.

…

A group of crows descended toward a dark alley before they coalesced into the form of a young man. It was quite the sight to see, but Casper was deep in thought as he planted his feet on the ground.

“I wonder if I should’ve told them about my newer abilities.” I raised the question as I headed toward my apartment. I had managed to land near my apartment, but I fell a little short near the end. My brain was too exhausted to attempt even one more go of it, so I decided to walk.

I planned on revealing them once we were inside the ruin since I’d have a chance to explain how I got them then. As of now, I just planned on saying that crows were related to death in some way.

“Hmm?” As I was heading home, I spotted a green-haired girl sitting in front of the building with a cigarette in one hand and a can of beer in the other.

“You’re one of Rosemary’s daughters?” I asked.

She immediately turned her eyes to me and I could see a her busted lip as well as her bruised cheek.

“What’s it to you?”

Ah, she must’ve been one of the daughters Rosemary warned me of. I could see she was quite hostile.

“Nothing, I guess.”

Since she didn’t want to be bothered, I decided to leave her alone.

“...Wait.” She stopped me before I could go in and tossed me a can of beer. “I don’t like drinking alone, you want one?”

“Well, I don’t really-”

“Don’t tell me you don’t drink? A guy like you?” Her eyes filled with doubt.

“It’s not that I don’t, it’s just I never really liked it.” I sighed before sitting down but made sure I wasn’t too close to her.

“Why are you so far? I’m not gonna bite you.” She rolled her eyes as she inhaled the cigarette.

“You sure?” I smiled wryly as I opened the warm beer and took a sip.

To top it off, it was a very cheap beer. I couldn’t understand how she could even drink this stuff.

“By the way, what happened to your face?” I suddenly asked.

Of course, she responded in a very predictable way by grimacing.

“A dog attacked me,” She grit her teeth as she said so.

“...Oh.” I just nodded and took another gulp of beer.

Another taste only confirmed that it was disgusting.

“So, you live alone?”

“Yeah,” I answered. “Though my dad probably wouldn’t mind if I stayed with him.”

“Does that mean your mother is the one with the problem?”

I shook my head with a bitter smile, taking a sip of beer before I responded, “She’s dead.”

“Oh… Shit… Well, sorry.”

“Don’t worry, she’s been dead a long time now. It doesn’t bother me much.” I lied.

A single death scarred me beyond belief and for most of my life, I was controlled by death. It ruined a lot of things for me, but I couldn’t just say that aloud. It was only recently that I was able to reclaim some part of my life where I no longer felt urges to observe death without any self-control.

“I’m a bit envious of you though,” I added.

“Because of Rosemary?” She guessed correctly.

“Yeah, she seems nice.”

“She is, almost to a fault.” The young woman said as she took another puff of her cigarette. “Anyway, what’s your name?”

“Casper...-” I replied, but was met with snickering, "...Casper Clay.”

The green-haired girl began giggling like a child at my name and I didn’t blame her. I just buried my complaints with another swig of beer.

“So, what’s your name then?” I narrowed my eyes as her laughter continued.

“Sunny-”

It was my turn to laugh as her name was just as odd as my own.

“Sunny Goodman.”

My laughter rose an octave before it finally settled.

“Well, thank you for the drink, Sunny Goodman.” I squeezed the empty can of beer and stood up.

“Hey, you said you live alone, right?” Sunny asked as she tucked her green hair behind her ear.

“Yeah, I do,” I responded without thinking much of it.

“You wanna invite me over?” She asked as she stood up and moved closer to me.

“I’m sorry?” I was taken aback at her sudden proposal. “You hardly know me.”

“So, I've met worse men? You some sort of serial killer?” She said with a laugh.

“For all you know I could be.” I took a step back.

Sure, she was pretty and seemed to be a decent person, but my years of solitude had made me hesitant about letting people too close. After all, I had a few skeletons stashed away that I couldn’t explain without being seen as crazy. Well, I was aware that obsessing over death wasn’t a very sane thing to do.

“Is it because of Rosemary? You wouldn't know but she’d be perfectly fine-”

“That’s not it.” I shook my head while sighing. “...Maybe I’ll change my mind after I know you a bit better.”

“Oh, so you’re one of those types? And here I was thinking that chivalry was dead.” She spoke sarcastically.

“I…-” Really didn’t know how to reply to that. “...Thanks for the drink, Sunny.”

I headed inside and up to my apartment without looking back though I felt like her eyes were following me. Once I was within the walls of my own home, I threw away the can of beer and went to wash up.

I had only interacted with two of Rosemary’s daughter- Well, just one of them, since the other woman vehemently refuted my assumption- and each time I was met with a surprise.

I took a break from practicing Penelope’s Dance and began to doze off. It was only when I was a few moments from sleep did I realize that I hadn’t taken an actual break since I stepped onto the path of a Death Bringer.

That thought put a small grin on my face as I would continue to climb this uncertain mountain without knowing what waited for me at the top.